Twitter
Advertisement

Centre gives in to Maneka Gandhi demand on ICDS scheme

The WCD ministry had sent in a proposal to pilot the cash transfers scheme in a few districts as part of the National Nutrition Policy to the Cabinet, on the insistence of the NITI Aayog.

Latest News
article-main
Maneka Gandhi
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

Days after Union Minister of Women and Child Development (WCD) Maneka Gandhi spoke to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) against the NITI Aayog's proposal to introduce cash benefits in lieu of nutritional rations under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, the government think-tank has given in and agreed to do away with the proposal.

The WCD ministry had sent in a proposal to pilot the cash transfers scheme in a few districts as part of the National Nutrition Policy to the Cabinet, on the insistence of the NITI Aayog. Apart from the government think-tank's insistence to introduce cash transfers for malnourished children below three years of age and lactating women, an idea to introduce cash transfers in the case of pregnant women was also put forward by the PM's group of secretaries, where they suggested that only those women who carry out timely check-ups will receive the benefits.

However, the WCD ministry, who had felt that a family in need of money is unlikely to use the cash for nutrition, opposed the idea. The matter reached the PMO when Maneka held a meeting with the PM in the first week of October to discuss the National Nutrition Policy, and said conditional cash transfers is not a viable idea, and that the ICDS scheme could suffer if cash was involved. WCD secretary Rakesh Srivastava had, during a press conference in October, said that since the idea of cash transfers was mooted by NITI Aayog, the PMO had asked them to give a report on the proposal to explain its benefits.

It is now learnt that the NITI Aayog has taken back the proposal and agreed to do away with conditional cash transfers. The National Nutrition Policy, which is currently with the Cabinet, is likely to come back with changes on Thursday. The policy, apart from laying down guidelines for nutritional recommendations for different sets of beneficiaries, is also likely to introduce bar-coded packaged food, which will be pre-printed by the Centre. A WCD ministry official said that the move will stop pilferage.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement